Some thoughts on Christmas...

I have been somewhat silent the last few weeks. Not as regular with my posts. Mostly because the lead up to Christmas is always a somewhat painful time for me.  Being an immigrant to Australia, the only family I have here is the family that my wife and I created. No brothers or sisters or cousins of my generation. No parents or aunts and uncles. The Christmas season brings that into sharp focus as I hear of other families planning their multi-generational get-together. Meanwhile, our own children are growing away from us and leading their own lives, so we don't see much of them at Christmas, if at all, as they have commitments with partners and partner's families as well.  Also, it doesn't help that coming from the northern hemisphere where the approach to Christmas is a time of cold dark nights and short grey days, I am confronted with blue skies, sunshine, warm temperatures, long days and often warm nights.  Consequently, there is much about the season that is confusing. And what isn't confusing, is about grief and loss. So Christmas is a time of year that I sort of creep up to, carefully taking every step to avoid any additional hardship or pain, full of trepidation as to how it will all shake out with myself and family and memories and emotions.  The only constant is the story of Christ's birth and that is how it should be. In this story I find my life, for as Luke and Matthew tell it, here is a story of confusion, misunderstanding, pain, sorrow, grief, loss and the unknown. But here also is the sure promise and hope, that despite all that is happening, God is present and this is true for me as well. That is why for me, the reading of the Christmas story is so vitally important. In it are words of comfort and hope and encouragement...if only I care to hear it told.